Saturday, September 17, 2011

Dakota Meyer at the Bridge

Back in college I decided to major in Classics for awhile. Problem with that was comprehension. The Greeks and the Romans were smart folks and I didn't really have all the brain power necessary to absorb all that creativity. From all the boring penguin editions that I read from I can only remember two anecdotes.

Herodotus was actually fun (at times) even when he was talking about Generals of Armies and things. He invented the idea of History by writing down all the mythology and stories about the culture in which he lived. There was no pressure to be accurate at that point and sometimes he is called the Father of Lies for his tendency to include fabrications and fantastic stories that nobody believes.

Among the most boring historian on earth had to have been Livy who lived in ancient Rome. He was dry and long-winded and probably pretty accurate in his tellings. Livy wrote many many many many Penguin Editions. After a while I realized that it was a waste of time for me to read him because I could not remember anything he wrote. Except for one story -- that of Horatio at the Bridge.

At this point, it's about 30 years later so I've got all the details mixed up about Horatio. What I do remember is that the story of Horatio was so out of character for Livy and seemed so unreal that we all just guffawed at it in class. Where the hell did Livy get off including this unbelievable story in his assemblage of mass and accurate detail?

From what I remember Horatio was a Roman warrior who was defending a bridge, a key transport route down to Rome. He spent hours maybe days fending off a bunch of grinning blue eyed Aryans who I seem to remember had just crossed the Alps on the backs of Elephants. Hmm, maybe the elephants were part of another story about Persians, sorry. Anyway, the Aryans were big and brash, you know, basic German tourists, but in this case they were out to sack Rome so probably carrying spears and rocks. By himself Horatio killed them all, however many there were. We all laughed about how Livy must have been on acid that day. Or that he was channeling Hercules who was a myth and didn't exist. Who could believe this story?

So, where was I? Oh yeah. The War in Afghanistan.

On Thursday President Obama awarded the highest medal possible to an ex-Marine named Dakota Meyer. Dakota defied his superiors' orders because his entire group of friends were caught in battle and were calling for help. The superiors denied the help.

Certain unnamed soldiers in command will supposedly lose their rankings/jobs for incompetence demonstrated that day. Meyer and another soldier, Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, should not even have had to do what they did if their superiors had been competent. The names of these guys are left out of the articles, but I think it's important because it looks to me as if there were issues with giving proper attention to where it is due. There were mix-ups. Mercury was stationing Retrograde.

While receiving his medal Meyer said that it seems unbelievable to receive so much attention for what had been the worst day of his life. Would be interesting to see his entire chart but if the date provided on Wikipedia is true then I could see how Meyer's life could unfold in this way. I actually remember the Greek concept of kalon-kakon, situations which is both a Blessing and a curse occurring at the same time.

I don't have Rodriquez-Chavez' birthday so I'm not going to discuss his astrology. He was given the second highest award that the Navy honors its heroes along with another officer, Ademola Fabayo. I've included a link to an interview with Fabayo the day after the battle down below which explains what happened from his point of view. He provides the timing for the battle which is important astrologically.

First thing astrologers will look at here is that Mercury was stationing Retrograde at 7 Libra in the 1st house right as this battle began. Mercury rules the Virgo rising. Mercury rules communications. Retrogrades indicate a time when Mercury's motion is seen from earth as moving backwards so in traditional astrology communications are said to break down more than usual. What it means is that Mercury spends an extra long time in one sign and there's no feeling of moving forward and smoothly.

There was a Sun-Saturn conjunction almost exactly on the Ascendant. Saturn rules cautionary actions, or stoppages altogether. Saturn is so careful that often he won't help. He also rules authority and bosses.

Saturn was opposing Uranus 26 Pisces which was in the 7th House of partnerships. Pluto wasn't quite within orb of squaring either one of them but he was also angular in H4 and on the very important Aries Point at 1 Capricorn.

The outer planet t-square aspect of these 3 planets has been going in and out of orb for the last two years-plus. It is considered a very stressful, life changing configuration. Lots of divorces, lots of market crashes, lots of earthquakes and floods (especially with Uranus and Neptune where they are). Lots of the types of changes that people don't handle very well.

This t-square describes the event pretty well. Saturn represents authority. Sun represents Military. Along with the Sun represents authority in the military. Placed in Virgo there might not be great leadership. Pluto in the 4th House represents spying, espionage, betrayal, death, an environment like quicksand. Mars in Cancer during the fight just enhances this. Pluto in Saturn's sign right on the Aries point shows that there might be some destruction of military command. And then there's Uranus the Revolutionary. He's in the 7th House getting ready to defy orders in order to save his friends. The 7th House is also significant in diplomacy matters and in dealing with open enemies.

Mercury rules this chart through the Virgo Rising. Although Virgo doesn't like to lead he can often do just as much by working through the details. In this case, the soldiers had the mentality to discern that they would have to deal with the situation on their own because the leadership wasn't there. They just kept charging and charging and charging. When one jeep broke they brought in another one.

Sept. 8, 2009 5:30 am
Ganjgal, Kunar Province, Afghanistan (I don't have Ganjgal on program so used another town so chart I'm using isn't exactly accurate.)

I don't have the exact time that Meyer and Rodriquez-Chavez realized that they would have to act on their own. Time given is the beginning of gunfight according to the interview with Ademola Fabayo (url given at bottom). The current articles just say "before dawn."

When I read the first article about Dakota Meyer I just wanted to know what planets he's got in Scorpio. The Marines are all required to remember the birthdate of their corps which is November 10. It just seemed significant since the Marines are considered the hard core fighters who go in at the front lines. Scorpios don't necessarily like a crisis but they tend to be good at dealing with them because of their staying power.

It's pretty interesting that the only other Marine to receive this medal had the same birthday as the Marines. He was Jason Lee Dunham, born Nov. 10, 1981. He died on Apr. 22, 2004, 8 days after diving in to stick his helmet on top of a grenade to save his friends.

The story about how Dakota Meyer worked as the gunner while Rodriquez-Chavez drove the jeep is extraordinary, right out of Livy. These two ran 5 trips over a 6 hour period. Meyer jumped out of the jeep to drag the wounded back while the Taliban were shooting at them. Rodriquez-Garcia was driving the vehicle around to shield the wounded. As the gunner, Meyer was completely exposed. He killed 8 Taliban fighters, evacuated 12 wounded, provided cover for 24 Marines and soldiers (those number might not be exactly accurate).

Dakota Meyer
b. June 26, 1988 Greensburg, Kentucky (from Wiki)

Sun 6 Cancer; Moon Scorpio, Sadge if born very late at night; NN 18 Pisces

It looks as if Meyer is mostly ruled by Water with a Cancer Sun and a North Node (Life Path) in Pisces and probably a Scorpio Moon. Personally I'm amazed that with all that water he performed so well out in the middle of the desert. Maybe he really has a Fire Sagittarius Moon. The water does give him great psychic abilities to see through a situation. Maybe it made him more invisible to the enemy. Ernest Hemingway was a Cancer Sun so one sort of gets that sense in Dakota Meyer as well.

Meyer's chart is amazing to look at in connection with this event.

For one, he has Mars in conjunction with his North Node at 22 and 17 Pisces respectively. Mars is the Warrior of Astrology and the North Node represents the true direction of one's life path. They are combined here in Pisces which isn't often considered the boldest aspect for a soldier by typical Western Military standards. But Pisces has other methods. He is probably very useful in dealing with smoke screens, deception and people who rely on terrorism in order to get ahead. Mars represents speed, impulse, rashness. This squares his natal Venus Rx and Mercury in Gemini. This combines his mental and physical coordination with his basic loyalties to his comrades in a challenging but energized way.

Transiting Uranus (rebellion, groups, friends, shock, surprise, sudden events) is within conjunction with Meyer's natal Mars by 4 degrees on the day of the fight. Uranus rules one's friends and community who he was fighting (Mars) for. Also, Meyer's progressed Mars is at 2 Aries on this day. This is directly squaring not only the big outer planet t-square of the day but is also squaring a huge opposition from Sun-Chiron to SAturn-Uranus-Neptune that Meyer has in his chart right on the Aries POints (coming before the public).

Transiting Mars was also involved at 8 Cancer. So it was right over Meyer's natal Sun and opposing his natal Neptune 9 Capricorn. Pluto, the higher octave of Mars, was at 1 Capricorn opposing Mars and in conjunction with his natal Saturn-Uranus-Neptune.

His natal Sun is in conjunction with Chiron, 6 and 1 Cancer respectively, and are opposing Saturn-Uranus who are in conjunction on the same degree at 29 Sagittarius. Therefore, his natal chart, the transiting chart, and his progressed chart all meld together on the strongest points of the astrological wheel. Interesting that the conjunction of Saturn-Uranus plays out during the transiting opposition of these same planets, but this mirroring seems to happen quite a bit. Everyone born around the time that Meyer was born will have this conjunction but their inner planets might not trigger an event quite as significant.

Pluto (ruler of the Marines) is also important to look at here. Pluto is considered the higher octave of Mars and so is considered sort of a spiritual warrior. He represents the use of human will and instinct.

Meyer's natal chart has Pluto strong in its own sign of rulership at 10 Scorpio. Because Pluto spends so long in one sign this is true for everyone of his generation. Pluto is strong in his chart because it trines his natal Sun. His Sun also disposits to Pluto. And Pluto is the Lead Planet of a locomotive chart shape. (read about chart shapes at www.bobmarksastrologer.com/lessons).

There's so much more to look at here. I'm simply amazed and shocked by this story. I hope he goes on to study great ideas in College and to further learn how to use his great talents. President Obama shared a beer with him on the White House lawn and gave him some good advice to just take it slow. After the Trojan War Odysseus spent 20 years getting lost trying to make his way back home. Interesting how one must go on a second journey in order to unwind from the first journey.

The beginnings of the battle according to DianaWest.net was at 5:30 am. It seems that Dakota Meyer and Juan Rodriguez-Chavez must have defied orders after about 7:30 am at some point.